Tag: Football

Barcelona agreed to pay Neymar’s tax evasion charges

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Ever since Neymar joined Barcelona on May of 2013, there have been investigations going on involving his transfer from Santos to Barcelona as the transfer fee was initially disclosed and later on it was discovered that fee which was made to the public was not the actual amount of money that Barcelona had spent in signing the Brazilian superstar.


These transfer investigations led to Rosell resigning from his position as the president of Barcelona and the Spanish club was charged with tax evasion fraud as well as other things which emerged.

It’s been over 3 years since that transfer was completed and move investigations have been taking place involving Neymar’s move to Barcelona as there was a portion of the money which actually went to the wrong parties but nonetheless it has recently been revealed that all of these issues have finally been resolved.

It was recently announced that Barcelona had agreed to pay  €9.3 million in back taxes and the Spanish club will also pay a fine of €5.5 million to Spanish authorities due to everything that emerged in relation to Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona.

At the age of 24, Neymar is already being viewed as the next true leader of Barcelona, someone who might be able to follow the footsteps of Messi and accomplish everything that the Argentine superstar has done with Barcelona. Continue reading →

Barcelona thrashed Deportivo La Coruna to stay top of the league

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On a day where both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid won, Barcelona needed to win their game if they wanted to stay on top of the Spanish league.

Indeed, after a poor run of form, Barcelona has surrendered a 9 points lead and found themselves levelled with Atletico Madrid and only one point over the Real Madrid.


Barcelona responded brilliantly by beating a poor Deportivo La Coruna side by 8-0. This was a humiliating defeat for Deportivo, who was playing at home. However, with the form demonstrated by Luis Suarez and his mates, it would have been difficult for Deportivo to stop them.

Luis Suarez has a magnificent game where he scored four goals and contributed 3 assists for Barcelona. This ended a losing streak which saw Barcelona lose 3 times in succession.

The first goal came in the 11th minute when Suarez connected well with a Rakitic corner. He added a second in the 24th minute after collecting an excellent pass from Lionel Messi. These two goals gave Barcelona a two-goal cushion at half-time.

After the break, Luis Suarez will assist Rakitic for the third goal only 3 minutes after the restart. Five minutes later, Suarez will complete his hat-trick five minutes later and add another goal to make it 5-0 for Barcelona. The remaining goals will be scored by Messi, Neymar, and Batra. Continue reading →

Barcelona messed it up at Villarreal the other night

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From a winning position, Barcelona messed it up at Villarreal the other night as the hosts made it a draw with their incredible comeback.

But, in spite of that, Luis Enrique was not a disappointed man and that’s because even that draw was good enough for Barcelona to extend the lead as the table toppers.

Atletico Madrid, Barcelona’s challengers for the title in the Spanish top tier this season, had been upset by Sporting Gijon the day before which had kept their points’ tally unmoved.

Barcelona, however, by the virtue of this draw increased their total no. of points by one and thus, still widened the gap between them and Atletico.

According to Enrique, any result which takes you further ahead of your nearest rival is a brilliant result.

The boss said, “One point at a Stadium which has always been hard for the opposition to come and compete at, it has got to be a good result.”

“Also, if you see the side at no. 2 was beaten, while, we have had a point which means our lead has stretched. So, it’s great from that point of view too.”

“Frankly speaking, this performance from Villarreal was not out of the blue. They are actually a class team and whenever you play them here, you won’t find it easy to put brakes on them because they have very good idea of their game.” Continue reading →

Luis Enrique has admitted that he would like to add some players to Barcelona

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Luis Enrique has admitted that he would like to add some players to Barcelona squad in this January transfer window.

The Catalan giants are known for having a thin squad, but they have been able to get away because of good luck with injuries. None of the stars like Lionel Messi or Neymar have spent major portions on the sidelines in recent years. The 2015-16 season, though, has exposed this weakness quite drastically. Barcelona have been able to maintain their momentum in the la Liga but it has been tough work for Enrique since many stars have been out for a considerable amount of time.

The transfer ban imposed on Barcelona for their transfer of underage players has been lifted recently. The club already made some signings in the summer, but they will now officially be able to play for the club starting from January. Further, there is the possibility of adding more to an already thin squad.Gerard Pique, Neymar, and Luis Suarez scored in the 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao. Enrique has likened the arrival of new players as a Christmas present. Since the club are short on numbers in almost every department, there is likely to be a few arrivals this winter. Continue reading →

Barcelona enjoyed success in 2015 after lifting the Club World Cup

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Barcelona enjoyed success in 2015 after lifting the Club World Cup with a fine 3-0 win over River Plate.

The team had already won the likes of the Champions League and the league title this year. Even though they were clear favourites for the Club World Cup, the prospect of facing Argentine champions River Plate was always going to be daunting. However, they came away with a quite comfortable victory following goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. The former had a bigger say with two goals compared to the Little Argentine, who opened the scoring. This was the second consecutive win for the club in all competitions.

The Catalan club will now be able to enjoy a much deserved break before returning to the league campaign with a home game against Real Betis. There were doubts about Barcelona succeeding at a Club World Cup due to the recent domestic form. Dropped points against Deportivo la Coruna and Valencia have allowed the likes of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid to close the gap. The 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, though, had little significance since the team had already qualified as the group winners. Barcelona will be hoping to become the first team to defend the Champions League ground when they take on Arsenal in the last 16. Continue reading →

Arda Turan will not be able to play for the club until January 2016

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Barcelona’s new signing Arda Turan will not be able to play for the club until January 2016 despite having just signed from Atletico Madrid for a mammoth transfer fee of € 41 million.

The 28-year-old is expected to go straight into the first-team as the replacement for Xavi Hernandez. Even though he is a completely different player to the iconic Barcelona legend, it is expected that manager Luis Enrique will sufficiently transformed the team’s tactics in order to suit a player like Turan. Barcelona are under a Fifa ban that will prevent them from adding any new players to the squad until the end of 2015.

The ban has been in place for more than six months, but it has not prevented the club from completing the deals. One of the most important among them is the arrival of Turan. Since the player will not be able to play for Barcelona immediately, there has been suggestions that he will be loaned out to another club for the next five months in order to maintain his fitness levels. Even the 28-year-old suggested that he is frightened at the prospect of being idle for five months. Enrique, though, has stated that the player will not be sent out on loan and that he will want to work with the player until then. Continue reading →

Joan Laporta has claimed that he would be working hard

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Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta has claimed that he would be working hard in order to bring midfielder Paul Pogba to the Catalan club, as he sees the Frenchman as one of the best midfielders in the world.

The Frenchman is with Juventus and saw his team suffered a narrow defeat against the Catalan club in the final of last season’s Champions League. This is widely believed to be his last match for the Italian club, as he has grown too big for such a top club. Even though Pogba is expected to cost in excess of £ 70 million, Barcelona have consistently maintained their interest.

At least, the interest has not come from the current president and it comes from one of the candidates for the next term of presidency at the Spanish club. Elections are to be held at Barcelona for the next term of presidency with many thought to be unhappy at the recent regime. Undoubtedly, the three major trophies lifted by the club last season has helped cool the tensions around the club. Former president Laporta recently announced his intentions to stand for presidency once again and he has promised the signing of Pogba if he is re-elected. His excellent relationship with Juventus is thought to be a reason behind the statements. Continue reading →

Luis Enrique already has a place in the Barcelona history

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Luis Enrique already has a place in the Barcelona history as a player and he made it better by winning the league and the Copa del Rey in his first season at the club. He is on course to making it even better by winning the Champions League when Barcelona take on Juventus in the final on June 6.

The Spanish club are overwhelming favourites to win the title for the first time since 2011. Juventus have not won it since 1996 and their team looks make in comparison with the Barcelona front three.

Players like Gianluigi Buffon and Chiellini have admitted that stopping the front three of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, and Neymar will be the biggest concern for Juventus. They say that it will be tough to stop them almost entirely. Hence, Juventus will be focusing on doing their best in the match. The Italian team have already been beaten in one final back in 2003. This almost represents the final opportunity to win the title for goalkeeper Buffon, who is considered as one of the best in the world. The Italian has won every major honour like the World Cup, but the Champions League title continues to evade him. Continue reading →

Xavi Hernandez will be joining the Qatar club Al Sadd

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It has already been announced and confirmed that Xavi Hernandez will be joining the Qatar club Al Sadd at the end of the season as the veteran midfielder is going to be ending his relationship with Barcelona after having made his debut with the Spanish club back in 1998 when he was only 18 years old.

Xavi Hernandez made over 490 appearances for Barcelona and is even regarded to be one of the best central midfielders of all time as he was a specialist in being able to find empty space anywhere in the pitch and being able to slip a pin point pass to his teammates no matter where they are positioned.

At his 35 years of age, Luis Enrique wants to have a fairly young team and Xavi Hernandez no longer plays the same influential role that he used to have at Camp Nou as he used to have some time ago.

It won’t be easy to find a player who can fill in the gap that is going to be left by the absence of Xavi Hernandez but Luis Enrique is rumored to be setting his sights in Athletic Madrid’s Koke. Continue reading →

Luis Enrique hints of Barcelona relying on other Player than Messi

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Luis Enrique has denied that the Barcelona management might think about relying on someone else than Lionel Messi for taking the penalty hits in future.

Messi has been missing penalties quite a bit off late and that has raised concerns among the Barcelona fans.

Messi’s costliest miss came in the previous game of Barcelona in which they were taking on Manchester City in Europe.

People have been of the view that some other player, who is in better form than Messi, should be given the responsibility of converting the penalties.

Enrique though does not seem to be supporting that view. He is totally behind Messi and he made it clear that he was not bothered by some of the errors that the Argentinean star has committed on penalties in the ongoing season. Continue reading →